Can a Pakistani razor be sharpened for use as a knife?

Something I realised today is that I have a SORE need for a SHARP, precise butcher's knife. Not necessarily for skinning or carving, but for certain other parts of the animal-to-food process. Like a very large scalpel. Because razors are easy to keep REALLY sharp because of the whole spine thing, I was going to grab a crap blade off the bay and strip its scales and make it a knife, but I was wondering if a Pakistani blade might be up to the trick? I'm not saying like 8k or shave sharp, just like 1.2k DMT sharp.

Not sure I would use a Paki razor as a knife of any sort. You can get a Case Trapper for $40...it avoids all the problems and gives you something fun for the pocket.

You've obviously never used a Pakistani razor :p
Seriously tho a $10 eBay vintage junker would hold a better edge.

Dont get a pakastani razor like +1 to Oz, just grab a cheap vintage Heck PM me I could probably set you up

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Originally Posted by khaos

Like a very large scalpel.

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Get a microtome. It would be much sharper than a pakistani blade. Basically do not support the supply of Pakistani razors.

Few reasons come to my mind why straight razor is not good for those things you mentioned.

1. The grind shape, be it wedge or hollow makes it difficult to make precise straight cuts when doing slices etc.
2. The blade is usually so thin that it wont last any harder materials than few times until you need to hone it again.

Maybe with little reshaping you could make a cool paper knife or something like, but straights are not handy in kitchen, be it Paki or any other blade.

A Pakistani razor would make a good letter opener.

What exactly are you cutting that can't be done with a butcher's knife?

There is a pork seller near my house who uses an old straight to trim the hairs off pigs feet. I haven't been able to get a close look at it, but it might be worth while giving him a shiny brand new Pakistani razor in exchange.

A butcher knife is a large blade IME. A razor is more the size of a paring knife or perhaps a short fillet knife. One of my favorite all purpose knives around the kitchen is a Chicago Cutlery steak knife. Love the smiling blade and it is a handy size. No affiliation or knowledge of the seller but here is a set of them for less than the Pakistan razor and IME these are really good knives. Item number:220608880164

A raszor that has been honed down or otherwise made such that she'll no longer be a shaver would be a better idea. I bet most people here on the forum have several of those...

CarrieM has a Timberwolf that she uses as a boxcutter, and the thing is really messed up. Soft steel and a thin blade is not a good combination for anything.

Like Holli says get an ebay junker and use it, better steel, better edge and probably cheaper in the long run. I have a couple of junk blades around here, one for boxes and electrical tape and one my wife uses for her sewing needs.

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Originally Posted by Sailor

Few reasons come to my mind why straight razor is not good for those things you mentioned.

1. The grind shape, be it wedge or hollow makes it difficult to make precise straight cuts when doing slices etc.
2. The blade is usually so thin that it wont last any harder materials than few times until you need to hone it again.

Maybe with little reshaping you could make a cool paper knife or something like, but straights are not handy in kitchen, be it Paki or any other blade.

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Sailor makes good points. A razor may not be very durable for butchering...
Unless it's a "chopper" :p Couldn't resist :)

you might as well by a 10 buck junker from Walmart, they have about the same edge retention.
F dick or Victorinox sell very well priced boning /fillet knives that will work superbly @ ~15-20 bucks.

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Originally Posted by khaos

Something I realised today is that I have a SORE need for a SHARP, precise butcher's knife. Not necessarily for skinning or carving, but for certain other parts of the animal-to-food process. Like a very large scalpel.

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Speaking of large scalpels. What about one of these from our friend 330mate

Japanese hand forged Shuzon Damascus knife & your name - eBay Carpentry, Woodworking, Tools, Tools, Hardware Locks, Collectibles. (end time 24-May-10 15:16:34 AEST)

I have a couple of straights from China and one from Pakistan, and that one is much worst than the ones from the China knives...

It would seem like it would need a lot of work to get sharp.

I want to try to make a wood carving knife from them, and the only way to make them sharp IMO is to grind the blade to get a flat bevel.

I should have bought another kind of blades for the same price...

Gilles

A razors edge is so fine that it would degrade pretty fast if you used it for anything other than shaving. The steel, especially on hollow grounds, is very thin and would wear out pretty fast.

You'd be better off getting a set of proper knives. Even a cheap knife would perform better as a knife than a cheap razor.

Back to the original question, yes !!!!

But as usual it depends on the razor...

Pakistani - Badger & Blade

In that thread, you will see how some people at B&B started a thread about shaving with them, and of course it takes a person (:fim:) from SRP to do the actual work... and then the thread died...

You are more than welcome to that POS blade that is already sharpened to shaveable (I don't guaranty it hehehe) but I am pulling the scales off of it...
PM me if you want it...

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Originally Posted by Stubear

A razors edge is so fine that it would degrade pretty fast if you used it for anything other than shaving. The steel, especially on hollow grounds, is very thin and would wear out pretty fast.

You'd be better off getting a set of proper knives. Even a cheap knife would perform better as a knife than a cheap razor.

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+1.

The razor would be beautiful--for the first few cuts. Then it would be worse than useless. Too thin a blade to hold an edge when being used to cut, rather than dragged along a surface, I think. The razor's edge would degrade so fast that you'd be re-honing every five minutes, particularly if what you're cutting up has any bones in it. Just MO, of course.

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Originally Posted by ndw76

A Pakistani razor would make a good letter opener.

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Although an actual letter opener would make for a better one.

Lol! Yep, those Pakistani razors are so dull you cant even use them as a letter opener.

I used to use a Zeepk to spread butter on my toast, but the crumbs dulled the edge... :D

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Originally Posted by commiecat

What exactly are you cutting that can't be done with a butcher's knife?

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*****sensitive readers please skip down
I'm a little old fashioned in that we still butcher a lit of or own meat if we can. Cutting throats is actually the most humane way to die. After putting down. My dad is a vet and he won't do it any other way. I'm thinking of a wedge blade converted to a knife. Also any hunter will tell you, cut off the nuts asap. And for neutering farm animals. So in all cases I need something really sharp, and if it is as arp as it should be it only needs to be sharp enough for one use at a time.

I plan on testing it on a slab of meat first don't worry.

*****
No i am not an idiot guys I know the edge wouldn't be durable. I have a skinner, a serrated blade (for sternums), various sized knives, and a meat saw. I just was thinking a razor might augment this as stated above.

I think I will try and get an old wedge with blemishes so the price stays down. Thanks for the responses guys.